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Moving ahead on the river file
Times & Transcript (Moncton)
Wed 21 Mar 2007
Premier Shawn Graham merits praise for announcing plans to set up a trust fund next year, as was done for the Saint John harbour cleanup, to help get the Petitcodiac River restoration moving.
This demonstrates to Ottawa that the province is serious and that Ottawa also needs to pay up and take its responsibility for the number one environmental issue in the province. The federal government illegally approved the causeway in the first place and conducted the Environmental Impact Assessment that determined we must act.
The status quo is not acceptable because it contravenes Canadian law. The only choice is in choosing how to remedy the problem.
With Premier Graham's announcement, work is going ahead on the funding issue, which is more than we saw from the previous government which was somewhat hobbled by some MLAs and cabinet ministers who worked actively to undermine attempts to move the file forward. Premier Graham has none of that political baggage. And he knows as well that time becomes ever more crucial as more time passes without any action. The trust fund is a positive first step towards the actual restoration
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